About

After the consequential Hurricanes Irma and Maria passage through Puerto Rico and the Caribbean Islands, the Office of Research VP Dr. David Norton opened the possibility of supporting faculty and graduate students from the University of Puerto Rico and Virgin Islands for a limited stay at UF. We were able to receive 3 faculty members and 7 students for 4 weeks in October 2017. The Center for Hydro-generated Urbanism (CHU - UF) acted as the host of the activities and actively engaged in logistics and academics with the SOA visitors. Sponsored by Dean Chimay Anumba from the College of Design, Construction, and Planning (DCP), and Director Jason Alread from the School of Architecture, we developed jointly the ideas for an International Project + Research Workshop, to be held yearly in Puerto Rico. The first edition will take place in 2018 from March 16th to 25th.

The Puerto RicoRe_Start PREP, was the preparatory instance held between October 16th and October 30th 2017, and presented its results publicly on November 1st at the School of Architecture. It produced extensive background data, mappings, bibliographic and web content, alumni linkages, consolidated in a google drive data bank. The damage extent was assessed and documented for key areas and interest focus subjects. The visitors returned to Puerto Rico after the conclusion.

The PR RS International Project + Research Workshop 1 held in March 2018 gathered the support of The Chancellor of the University of Puerto Rico, the Dean of Architecture UPR, the UNESCO Chair in Sustainable Urban Quality and Culture Rome, the UF Center for Latin American Studies, the UF International Center, the UF Office of Research, the College of DCP, the School of Architecture, the Shimberg Center, CityLab Orlando, the Center for Puerto Rican Studies, Hunter College, City University in New York, the University of Rome, La Sapienza, the University of Seville, Spain, the New York Institute of Technology, the Politecnico di Torino, the University Politecnica of Puerto Rico and the University of Turabo.

Following the successful completion of PR_RS 1 in March 2018, and responding to the aftermath of the Hurricanes Irma and Maria, the University of Florida and the Polytechnic University of Puerto Rico are preparing the second edition to be held at the PUPR Campus in San Juan from March 22 to March 30, 2019. The PR_RS 2 will address the holistic ideas for intersectoral and interdisciplinary integrative proposals, and open new areas for innovative research and visionary projects under the ambitious goal of a Sustainable and Resilient Puerto Rico for 2045: